Veteran middle-order batter Sean Williams was unbeaten on 145 as Zimbabwe posted 363 for four against Afghanistan on the first day of the first Test in Bulawayo on Thursday.

The UN mission to Afghanistan on Thursday called for an investigation into Pakistani air strikes in Afghanistan, in which the Taliban government said 46 people were killed, including civilians.

Brief scores at close of play on the first day of the first Test between South Africa and Pakistan at SuperSport Park on Thursday: ...

The chief paediatric doctor at a southern Gaza hospital told AFP that three babies had died of "severe temperature drop" this week, as the war-ravaged Palestinian territory grapples with winter cold.

Lebanon's Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib expressed his hope Thursday for close ties with Syria's new rulers after a phone call with his Syrian counterpart, Beirut said.

Angolan President Joao Lourenco has pardoned some 50 prisoners, including the son of his predecessor Jose Eduardo dos Santos who was serving a five-year jail term for embezzlement.

Turkey's central bank lowered its key interest rate on Thursday, the first cut in nearly two years as it battles with double-digit inflation.